


No Ordinary Boys

by Seven_Sins



Category: Mako Mermaids
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cam being a little shit, David is baby, David simping over Sirena, F/M, Mako Island, Merman!Cam, Merman!David, Mermen powers, Nixie being a little shit, Not Beta Read, Secrets, The boys become mermen baby!, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26343685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seven_Sins/pseuds/Seven_Sins
Summary: On their boys only camping trip to Mako Island, Cam, David and Zac discover a mysterious cave. Following their friend that is being called into it by a strange force the three of them fall in the magical moon pool.What will happen when there is not just one merman but three?
Relationships: David/Sirena (Mako Mermaids), Zac Blakely/Evie McLaren
Comments: 35
Kudos: 30





	1. Metamorphosis

“Thanks again for letting me come with you guys.” David screams over the sound of the running motor.

Cam rolls his eyes as this was the third time David had thanked Cam and him for inviting him to their camping trip on Mako. 

He shoots a disapproving look at Cam.

“No worries mate, the more the merrier, right?” Zac smiles at David. 

Mako always is a view to behold, it’s volcano coming closer and closer to them. Zac could hear a few seagulls flying overhead along with the water they were slicing through with the motorboat. 

He and Cam were planning on staying on the island to celebrate the last few days of freedom before the new school term started. Taking David wasn’t really the plan at first, but the boy was so stressed from working at the cafe that he took pity in him and invited him along the trip.

Cam stops the motor of the boat and they slowly come to a halt. “What about here?” Cam asks as he drops the Anchor. 

“What are you doing? I thought we were going to camp?” David asks, confused.

“Well, we didn’t bring dinner with us, so we have to do it the old fashioned way and catch it ourselves.” Cam explains. “Pass me the cooler will you? I need to have bait if we want to catch something out here.” 

David picks up the cooler and passes it to Cam. “I didn’t take any fishing gear with me.” he pouts.

Zac claps David on the back. “Don’t worry you can share with me. But it’s not like we’re gonna catch anything here.” He says with a pointed look towards Cam.

“You're just worried I'll catch something before you do.” Cam teases tossing the line in the water

“Oh, game on!” Zac grins, grabbing his fishing rod and flinging his line into the water as well.

\----

The fish didn’t bite at all. They have been sitting there for almost an hour with no luck. After half an hour Zac decided to give David a go with the fishing rod. 

Out of nowhere, David’s rod starts bending big time.

“Guys I think I got something!” He said excitedly. With all his strength he reels in the first catch of the day. The end of the line pops out of the water revealing a bunch of seaweed hanging from the hook.

Zac pats his disappointed friend on the back as he grabs the line to get the seaweed off.

“Aw, no fish hey?” Cam laughs, but his focus is fastly driven to the pull on his own rod. 

“Oh, yeah. There you go.” Cam is pulling and reeling in the fish. It looked like it was quite a big one from the way he was pulling at it.

“Get the net! Get the net!” Cam hurries to the other two boys. Zac is quick to find it as he has it ready in no time next to where Cam is. After many years of fishing together they were a well-oiled fishing machine. 

The fish went into the net easily, Zac made quick work of putting it out of its misery as it would be their dinner for tonight. David scrunched up his nose at the deed.

Cam hoisted the anchor back up and turned the motor back on heading for the island. 

\----

They walked far into the jungle looking for a good spot to set up camp. Mako was awfully quiet apart from the fading screeches of the seagulls and them walking with all their camping stuff. 

The island has always been like this as far as Zac could remember, apart from some birds and bugs the place was devoid of any big animals. It was strange though that an island that was lacking any sort of big life form on it could still feel so alive. Like the ground gave some sort of mysterious energy.

The two boys in front of him stop walking.

“This looks like a good place, isn’t it?” Asks David.

“Perfect.” Zac confirms while looking the place over. The place is pretty clear of rocks so putting up the tent would be easy. Near a little stream of water were some branches and twigs laying around that would be perfect for making a fire. 

Cam places the fold-up chair down, opens the cool box he is carrying in his other hand, and grabs a can of cola. He sits down on the chair and takes a big gulp of the cold drink. 

“Aren’t you going to help?” Zac asks his friend.

“I caught the fish, you do the tent.” Cam replies cheekily.

\---- 

Setting up the tents and making a fire was easy with two people. The sun had gone down by then, David made a fire so that they could see.

Zac gutted and de-scaled the fish Cam caught. He pierced the fish on a stick and handed it over to David who was on cooking duty. He was the most experienced in the kitchen out of all of them. David held the fish over the fire making sure the skin got crispy and golden brown.

“Oh, man that tastes great.” Cam taking a bite of the fish. “That what I call quality fish, caught by yours truly.”

“I think it has more to do with David’s cooking skills then your fishing skills, Cam.” Zac teases. 

David looks down with a smile and a little flush to his cheeks from the compliment. “Wasn’t all me, the fish was really good. Very fresh.” He humbly says.

“So, where are the chicks? And where's the music? We should have asked Carly and Evie to come.” Cam complains. 

“They hate camping.” Zac replies 

“Yeah, and Carly is looking after the cafe for me. Wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it other than her.” David chimes in. 

“It's not exactly my idea of a good time either.” Cam said.

“Well, school starts next week. We won't have another chance to get away.” Zac states.

“Two days on a deserted island. Great.” Cam sighs. “I'm gonna crash.” He heads up to the two-person tent that Cam and Zac share. Next to it was a smaller one where David would sleep in.

“If you snore, I'll hit you.” Zac jokes. 

He also gets up, the need to relieve himself is nagging him. They hadn’t seen a bathroom since they left the cafe to grab lunch before the trip.

“Where are you going?” David asks.

“Nature calls.”

David also stands up. “I’ll come with you, it's been a while since… well you know.” Awkwardly he follows Zac.

“What? Did you turn into a bunch of girls on your way to Mako.” Cam laughs. “Going to the bathrooms in groups.” 

Zac stops walking and turns around to face Cam. “You’re free to look after the camp all alone.” He looks around at the dark jungle that surrounds them. Cam follows his gaze and Zac can see a hit of fear in them knowing that the dark was one of Cam’s fears since childhood.

Zac smirks. “Such a manly man like you can certainly do that, right?”

“You know what? I’ll come with you, going to bed with a full bladder is not healthy.” Zac and David exchange knowing looks. 

They walk for a while towards a clearing far enough from the camp. There is a wall of rocks with cracks and creases all over them that looked like the perfect spot to do their business. The sounds of zippers opening followed. 

As he zips back up there is a sudden flash of light from the corner of his eye.

It was hard to see but where there used to be solid rock was now an opening. Surely that hadn’t been there a second ago... right?

He slowly walks up to it to inspect further, letting his hand feel the edges of the entrance. There was no sign of rocks moving or sliding to make the entrance. Maybe he just didn’t notice it before, no way a doorway just appeared out of nowhere.

“Zac what are you doing?” Cam asks.

He turns back around to see his best friend look confused. Didn’t they see the flash of light? Maybe the jungle is getting to him, like some sort of jungle madness. Was that even a thing?

“Did you guys notice this cave before?” He questions.

“No can’t say that I did.” David frowns.

Cam walks his way to inspect the rock for himself. Zac takes a few steps back to make room for him, looking over his shoulder to see if there isn’t something to trip over. 

Suddenly a weird feeling rushes over him. The world seems to slow and a need to go into the cave fills his very being. He could still hear Cam and David talking to each other, discussing whether the entrance was special or not but it was like they were miles away. Something was pushing him to walk further into the cave- telling him that he needed to go there. And so he did. With every step he took he felt the need to go find what is at the end of it growing.

Behind him, the two other boys abruptly stopped the discussion of the mysterious cave entrance. They called out for him, but their cries were ignored. Worried they follow him into the cave. 

Before Zac was a round carving in stone surrounded with these smooth stone balls. In the middle was a symbol, it looked like something he had seen before, maybe something in tv or a movie? 

“Woah, what is this place?” Cam asks in awe.

“It’s amazing.” David said in awe.

Whatever pulled Zac here was now practically screaming at him to get even closer to the carvings. He reaches out his hand to feel the rock under his palm, as expected the rock feels cold and hard to his touch. His eyes widen as the symbol starts to light up with a blue light. The other two boys grasp. But it was of short notice as suddenly the ground beneath them disappeared and they were falling. They scream until the water catches their fall.

His vision becomes dark.

\----

Someone is shaking him awake. The smell of the sea hits his nose as he takes a deep breath before opening his eyes to see who is shaking him but quickly shuts them again because of the blinding light of the morning sun.

He tries to open his eyes again, this time squinting them. Above him is Cam wide-eyed and worried. He has sand all over his hair and clothes, Cam lets out a sigh of relief as he sees his best friend finally wake up. 

“You had me worried there for sec buddy. No way I'm giving you mouth to mouth.” Cam jokes, trying to hide his concern of his best friend with humor. 

Zac pushes himself up on his elbows, looking around him to see where they are. They were on the beach. The sun was still low meaning that it was still early in the morning. David was nowhere in sight. He shoots up in a sitting position looking all around him for the curly-haired boy. 

“Where is David?!” He asks worriedly. 

“Chill, he went back to the camp to get some water.” Cam said grabbings Zac’s shoulder to get him to calm down.

Zac lays back down with a sigh of relief. If something had happened to David on their trip he would never forgive himself for it.

“What happened, why are we on the beach?” He looks around to find any clue as to why they decided to spend the night on the beach instead of a comfortable sleeping bag.

“No idea, David woke me up. Did you spike the food or something last night?” Cam accuses him.

“What?! No! Why would I ever do that?” He snaps back. 

“Well, something must have happened cause my memories of last night are total shit, and I’m sure I’ve seen this exact situation in a movie somewhere.”

“Zac you’re awake, thank god.” A relieved voice from behind says. Zac and Cam look behind them where David is walking towards them. In his hand he has three bottles of water- one of which their friend already drank from as it was half empty. 

He hands them a bottle each. Just then Zac notices how thirsty he was, quickly he uncaps it and almost drinks the entire thing in one go. Cam does the same just a little more slowly and controlled than his best friend. 

Cam rubs a hand over his face. “So none of us remember anything, like how is that possible?” 

“I remember walking off to go to the bathroom.” David said.

Zac frowns, trying hard to remember what happened after that. “I saw a light.”

“It was the full moon.” Cam said matter of factly. 

“Not the moonlight. Like a weird glow. There was this rock wall. And when I moved closer… there was this cave.” 

“We could try to find it again?” David suggests.

“Yeah, whatever this trip can’t get any weirder than this anyways.” Cam sighs.

Cam and Zac stand up and dust themself off from the sand, with little luck. The sand is everywhere, and it has no plan of leaving them soon, he was sure that they would find it months later still. They pass their camp, everything looks like it is still in the spot they left it in. The fire they made has long burned out leaving a bunch of ash and chard wood. They spend little time there as they make their way further in the jungle.

They found the stone wall easily, it was far more clearer now that the sun was up. Zac scans the wall for the entrance to the cave, but there is nothing. He pushes his hand to the stone- not sure why. Maybe try and find one of those hidden buttons you see in the movies all the time. 

“It was here.” 

“Looks like solid rock there mate, so it can’t be here.” Cam argues.

“No, it was.” He snaps his head back to look Cam in the eyes.

“Maybe you dreamed it?” David said unsure.

Zac tries to calm himself down, letting his shoulders relax again. “I know what I saw.” He looks back towards the rocks. “At least I think.”

Cam walks over to the spot the entrance used to be. He pushes against the rock- slaps it a few times for good measure. Nothing. Cam holds his hand up in defeat. “See there is nothing here.” He declared.

“Maybe we just need to go back home, get some real rest and just forget what happened here.” David suggested.

“You're kidding... I packed all that stuff. I thought we were here for two nights. We just got here.” Cam asks in disbelief, looking between David and him.

Zac sighs, David had a point. Maybe they just need to forget about it, but for some reason, it felt like this was very important. Like he needed to go back into that cave. 

He makes up his mind. “Alright, let’s go back home. This place is giving me the creeps.” He agrees.

Cam opens his mouth to protest, but Zac gives him a pointed look, silently telling him to let it go. Cam’s shoulders slump down in defeat.

“Alright, let’s go pack up again.” he grumbles as he starts to walk, David following him.

Walking after them Zac couldn’t help to look back over his shoulder one last time.

\----

Cam drops him off at his house, Zac dumps his fishing gear on the jetty and places the sandy towel on the pole. David hands him the rest of his bags and he gives him a small thanks before he waves the other two goodbye. His parents are sitting in the backyard enjoying a nice cup of tea in the shade. He walks to them and they notice him approaching. 

“Zac? Back already?” His dad asks. “I thought you wouldn’t be home till tomorrow.” he said, looking at his watch on his wrist.

“Yea, change of plans. David remembered he needed to be back for this big delivery today.” He lies, not sure if he wants to worry them with what actually happened last night. 

“Oh, that’s too bad.” His mom declared.

“Yea, I’m gonna get this stuff into my room.” He pointed with this thumb behind him. 

“Sure honey we talk later.” His mom smiles at him. He pats his dad on the back and grabs for the bags. 

He dumps the bags in his room with no intention of unpacking them right now and crashes on to his bed. The soft mattress felt like heaven compared to the hard sand of the beach.

There is a knock on his door.

“Come in.” He calls.

His dad pokes his head inside the room. “Zac I know you must be tired but that fishing gear isn’t going to clean itself up.” 

Zac groans he really doesn’t want to move from his very comfortable position. 

He lets out a heavy sigh. “Yeah okay.” 

“Good, your mum and I are going out for a walk.”

His dad leaves and Zac slowly gets out of bed and walks out of his room to the jetty. His mum calls him and waves at him before she and his dad leave. He picks up his reel, and like everything else it had sand in all crooks and crannies. He walks to the water faucet to wash it off, he turns the tab and a stream of water comes out. 

He tries to put the reel under the water, emphasis on _tries_. The stream bents to the right. Zac frowns and tries again, but the same thing happens. He puts the reel on the ground and inspects the faucet. Maybe it is partly clogged? He takes his hand to the stream and the water moves with his hand. He tries to do it from the other side, the same happens. 

“Whoa.” 

No way this is a coincidence! He moved the water! WITH HIS MIND?!

He is freaking out. This is something from a comic book, is he a superhero now?! 

He needed to tell someone... Cam! He would freak if he saw this. Turning the faucet off fast he made a sprint to find his best friend.

\----

“Are you sure you don’t want to be dropped off at home?” Cam asks him. 

David shakes his head. “No it’s fine, I really want to check up on the cafe to see if everything went well without me.” He explains. 

Sure he trusts Carly and Evie to run the cafe when he’s gone. He left Carly on her own a handful of times when he needed to do deliveries. It’s just that the cafe was his baby, he worked hard to convince his parents to give him full responsibility and management over the place. 

“Alright, well maybe I'll drop in later for lunch.” Cam said. 

“Sure, see ya.” He smiles and waves as he walks away. He can hear Cam leaving from behind. He walked up to the pier, there were a few people sitting outside of the cafe looking at the menus. He walks inside, Carly stands behind the counter finishing up with a customer. 

“Thank you, we hope to see you again.” She smiles. The customer walks away looking satisfied.

Carly notices him. “David.” She looks surprised but happy. “Back already?” She asked, confused.

“Yeah, it got out of hand so we went back early.” He explains. He walks behind the counter to stand next to her. He sets his bags in the corner so it wouldn’t be in the way and grabs one of the aprons.

“Bet you were just scared this place would burn down without you.” She teases him poking him in his side making him squirm. 

“ _Ha ha_ , very funny. There are some customers outside so why don’t you help them. Then I’ll do these orders.” He points at the orders that are still waiting.

“Sure.” She smirks. She makes her way through the cafe but stops halfway. “Oh, you need to go grab some more strawberries from the freezer for one of the orders.” She informs him. 

“I will, thanks.”

He goes to the freezer. The cold air surrounds him and he shivers, goosebumps forming on his forearms almost immediately. He goes to the rack where they keep the fruit, finding the strawberries easy. They were frosted over from the cold, he grabbed a packet of them. The bits of ice melts under his fingers from his body heat. 

He makes it almost out of the freezer before he feels the weird sensation. For a second he is something else, something that is not flesh and bones but cool and flowy- forming him in a different shape. And just as quick as it came it was gone. 

He had no balance, he could literally not feel his feet… or legs. A hard _slap_ filled the coolroom as he falls on his back. The strawberries fall on the floor around him.

The fall on his back pushes all air from his lungs and he gasps for air. His back stings. He brings his chin to his chest… his bare chest… When did he take off his shirt? 

Something is very wrong. His legs feel weird, he tries to move them. Another big slap filled the room. His eyes widened in shock.

He pushes himself up on his elbows. He gets one look at his ‘legs’ and his mind goes into shock. He takes a sharp breath in through his nose and his brain stops.

He has a tail.

His mouth opens and closes, he is not sure if he wants to scream or not. His legs were gone and a long blue scaley fin was in its place. He closes his eyes in the hope that if he opens them again it would all be back to normal.

He opens his eyes, but surely the tail is still there. His breathing quickens to the point you could almost call it hyperventilating. He shifts his weight on his left arm, reaching out with his right hand to the new appendage. 

It felt wet and smooth to the touch. The tail itself felt sensitive under his fingers, sliding his hand over the scales felt ticklish. The shock is slowly fading away with every touch, and confusion and wonder replaced it.

How? People don’t just grow tails?! 

“David are you okay in there?” Carly calls for him. Panic fills his entire being. Carly can’t see him like this! He had to think quickly!

“Uhmm yea I just dropped some fruits! I’m just cleaning up real quick.” He lies badly. God, he hopes that she believes him.

“Do you need help?” She asks. 

“NO!” He shouts. Shoot that sounded mean... he didn’t want to shout at Carly. “I can do it, you just take care of the customers.” 

“Alright…” She said unsure. He could hear her walk back to the cafe.

He lets himself fall back to the ground and let go a breath of relief. She was so close to seeing him as a… as a what even?

He lays there for about a minute, letting himself think. The tail feels strange, heavy. With every second the scales start to feel itchy, dry. A few more minutes and suddenly the strange flowy sensation came back. 

All of a sudden his clothes were back on. His legs were back! Quickly he stands up, picks up the strawberries and runs back into the cafe, he has never been happier to run in his life.

\----

All Cam wanted was a nice camping trip before the school term started. _Not_ to have a crazy night with all three of them getting amnesia. But alas that is what happened.

A nice relaxing bath was all he asked for. To relax his muscles and get all the rough sand from his body. He may be a lifeguard but he never liked that aspect of it. 

So when he was finally in the bubbly water he could at last relax. 

For about 10 seconds. 

His ass didn’t even hit the bottom of the bathtub before the strangest sensation came over him. 

The next thing he knew he was looking at a floppy fish fin hanging out of his bathtub. Maybe he is just starting to see things, what’s that on top of group amnesia anyways? But God did the thing feel real. 

Okay, maybe the fishtail was very real, cause he can’t feel his toes anymore. _Shit_. The thing moved. He moved the tail that has replaced his legs. 

He was a fish freak.

He needed help and fast, but who would he even tell?! certainly not his parents, they would freak! He had no siblings he could trust, he was an only child after all… so the only one he could think of was Zac. He needed to call Zac. Surely his best friend would know what to do… right?

Looking around him in search of his phone, he found it of course on the other side of the room lying on the counter. 

He needed to get out of the bathtub, which is difficult seeing his situation.

But what other choice did he have? He can’t stay in here forever. Gathering all his strength he tries to lift himself out of the tub. His arms burn from the strength it took to lift the fin. 

He slumps back down thinking hard how he can get out of this. Maybe he needs to drain the tub, everything feels heavier in water right? He pulls the plug and watches the water go down the hole. 

He tries again and this time, although still heavy he is able to roll out of the bath. He hits the floor, a hard _thump_ fills the bathroom. He hopes his parents didn’t hear that. 

Alright, step one is done now he just needs to crawl his way up to his phone and call Zac. 

Piece of cake. 

\----

Zac was halfway to the cafe when Cam called him. His voice was urgent like someone's life was on the line.

“Zac I don’t care what you doing, come meet me at the cafe we _need_ to talk” 

“Yea, I’m already on my way over.” he replied.

“Good I see you there.” Cam hangs up. 

He walks even faster than before, something is not right. Hell, something hasn’t been right since last night. 

He stops in his tracks… maybe he should call David too. After all he was with them too. He shakes his head, he needs to focus on getting to the cafe as quickly as possible. It’s most likely that David would be there anyway. 

He finally reaches the cafe. He walks inside, Carly is behind the counter. He scans the tables, no Cam. From his right, his girlfriend appeared. 

“Hi, Zac.” She said with a dazzling smile. Just the sight of her made him forget everything that happened for a second. She looked stunning as always, wearing a striped top with a denim short and her hair in a messy braid. 

“Evie, hi. Have you seen Cam by any chance? Or David?” 

“Cam No. David is here, but Carly said you all bailed on the camping trip, what happened?” She asked concerned. Zac opens his mouth to answer but closes it quickly, he can’t tell her the truth, not yet anyway. He needs to find out what happened first so that he himself understands what is happening. 

So lying it is.

“Nothing, just something came up.”

“Are you up for a run then? after I finish my shift?” She askes.

“I- I really need to talk to the guys. Some other time.” He tries to reassure her. 

Right on cue, David comes stumbling out the back, white as a sheet. Something told Zac that he wasn’t the only one who experienced something weird today. 

“David!” He calls.

The curly-haired boy’s head snaps to his direction. He almost trips over his own feet trying to get to Zac. Zac grabs his shoulder to steady him.

“Let's go outside, I need to show you something.” 

David nodded and they went back outside. 

“So I’m guessing that same thing happened to you?” Zac askes.

“I’m- I’m not sure… “ David stutters. “My legs they-”

His sentence was cut off by Cam running up to them.

“Guys you won’t believe what just happened to me. I was taking a bath-”

“Did you move the water with your mind too?” Zac chimed in, too excited to even wait for Cam to finish.

“What?! No- wait you moved water with your mind?!” 

“Yeah, come on I’ll show you.” he ushers them down the pier to the water hose. He turned it on. It didn’t go unnoticed to him that the other two boys took a step back immediately at the sight of the water. He frowns at them, since when did they get scared of a little water?

“Look I can bend it.” He tries to do the same hand motion as before and once again the water bended the other way. But just as the water was making a nice curve it snapped back to normal. 

He looked confused at the water and then to his friends. Cam looks unimpressed and David almost had an apologizing look to him as if he feels sorry for him.

“I don’t understand… I could make it move. I could make it bend.” He protested. 

“Well whether you can move things with your mind, I turned in a fish just a hot minute ago!” Cam declared.

Zac wasn’t sure which was weirder him bending water or that. 

“A- a fish.” he said disbelievingly.

“The same happened to me... “ David adds. Zac looks at the two wide-eyed unsure what to say to that.

But he didn’t have time to process the information that just got dumped on him cause the water hose just decided to explode in his hand, making him stumble, and with a splash, he was in the water. 

There was a feeling of release, like a rubber band breaking from the stretch. His body felt strange yet free as if before it was keeping him back. The water around him felt like home. 

He comes back to grasp for air, only then he can felt the new body part. He lets his body float to see the thing.

A tail. 

_‘So this is what Cam meant by turning into a fish’_

He looks up, his friends are freaking out looking around them to see if nobody else has eyes on their now scaley friend. 

Thinking fast Cam crutches down to his level. “You need to go before someone sees you! We meet you there.” Cam hissed. Zac can’t seem to make words, so he just nodded. 

It was surprisingly easy to get a hang of the new tail. The motions feel natural. He would almost call it nice if it weren’t for the fear and shock.

He reaches his house way faster than he ever did on a tinny. The challenge was now to get on land. Does he need to beach himself? Would he die if he did that? Is he like part dolphin now?

“Zac! Zac!” Cam’s voice hissed. 

He perks up. 

“Over here!” He calls back.

“We need to get you out of the water.” David states. “Get you dry.”

“Give me a hand?” He asks. The two look unsure at each other.

“We can’t.” Cam said.

“What why not?!”

“We think that whatever this is gets triggered when we get in contact with water.” David explains.

He thinks hard looking at the jetty. “Alright, stand back then. I’m gonna try to pull myself up.” he warns them.

He waits until they stop moving to grasp the edge. And thank god for years of lifeguarding and swimming on the school’s swimming team for the strength he had in his arms because the tail was heavy. He gives a few kicks to help him get up. 

He drags his body on the jetty, the wood scraping painfully on his skin and scales. Cam throws him a towel which he catches with one hand, his friends watch him dry the tail off. 

He wasn’t sure that it was helping until the strangest feeling overcame his body shaping him back to what he used to be. He gets up fast, he touches his legs to make sure they were really there and looks up to his friends. 

“My room. Now!.”

The two follow him into his room, he turns around. They all stand there awkwardly not sure what to say to one another. Zac rubs his hands together nervously.

“So... “

“We touch water and about 10 seconds later we become fish.” Cam huffs. 

“And when we are dry we turn back to normal.” David adds.

Zac nods to himself, his brain going into overdrive. 

“With the tails…” David hesitated.

“We looked like…” Cam continues.

“Mermen.” Zac finishes.


	2. Dangerous waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cam and Zac realize the dangers of their jobs as lifesavers and David meets a dazzling blond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is chapter two for you all. Thank you to everyone that left a comment or a kudo, it fills my heart with joy to know that people actually enjoy this. 
> 
> Also, I don't own Mako Mermaids or H2O: Just add water all right for that show go to Jonathan M. Shiff.
> 
> (Edited: 10-16-2020)

“So, you couldn’t get out of it either.” 

Zac looks up from his breakfast. Cam joins him at his table outside on the pier with his own bowl of breakfast. Like him, Cam has his yellow and red life-saving uniform on. 

He sighs “Yeah, I tried to pretend that I was sick but it’s hard to fake when your dad is a doctor.”

“That never worked out for us.” Cam said matter of factly.

“And that’s not the worst part, this morning he was this close to seeing me with-” He makes a wavy hand motion. “You know.” 

Cam’s eyebrows shoot up and he swallows his bite of breakfast a bit to fast and starts coughing. He hits his chest with a fist trying to get rid of the nasty cough. Just on time, David comes walking up to them with Cam’s drink. Cam snatches the glass from David and chugs a few gulps. 

“Please eat carefully, I can’t have you choking at my cafe, it’s bad press.” David deadpans at Cam.

“Dad didn't see anything, so you guys are still the only ones who know.” Zac reassures them.

“Yeah, that's gonna change pretty fast if we have to pull anyone out of the water.” Cam protested.

“You guys are seriously going to go to work?” David worries looking between them.

“There is no way we can do surf patrol.” Zac stated

“Okay stop stressing, we just need to get through this day.” Cam said. Zac frowns at Cam, his brain going into overdrive as to how they were going to even do any of that. After yesterday’s shock, he didn’t even think about all the dangers his regular life would bring. Water was such a big part of his life and sure it was dangerous, he wouldn’t have this job if it wasn’t, but now just a drop would send him straight to the freak show. 

“Then what?” He asks.

“We don’t know what this is, it could be like the 24-hour flu.” Cam prompts.

David makes a face at Cam. “Right the famous 24-hour merman tail flu.”

“We could always just join the circus as a three-person act, get some money out of all of this in the meantime.” Cam jokes.

David scoffs. “You two go sign up for that, I on the other hand have customers to attend to.” David walks back into the cafe leaving the two lifesavers on their own again. 

“I’m not going to become some freakshow, Cam.”

“I was only joking, you think I wanted any of this?” Cam grumbled, rubbing his temples. They finish their breakfast and start to make way to the beach. Still, none the wiser about how they are even remotely going to do their jobs.

\----

Zac tears his eyes from the calm morning waves, to look at his friend that just walked up from behind him. 

“So who is going into the water for surf duty?” Zac asks him.

“Rock, paper, scissors it?” 

Zac raises an eyebrow at the question. Mick, their boss, won’t be happy if he didn’t see at least one of them in the water. Zac looks around on the beach. It wasn't crowded. There were a few people on their towels sunbathing and some kids here and there playing in the sand or kicking a ball around. 

“We stick to the land for as long as we can. We have to make some excuses for not getting in the water.” He tells Cam.

“And what am I supposed to tell Mick then when none of us is in the water?” 

“I dunno, say you got a cold or that you sprained your ankle or something.” 

Now it was Cam’s turn to look critically at his friend. “I doubt that would work but sure let’s see how this ship sinks.” 

\----

Mick didn’t come until noon to check up on them, Zac was sitting in the chair while Cam was down in the sand waxing the surfboard for the tenth time. 

“What's with this?” Mick questions them.

“Doing my job sir.” Cam answers.

Zac already knew this was going to go really wrong in less than a minute. 

“Your job is for one of the two of you to be in the water!” Mick growls. “And from the look of it, none of you have!”

Cam glances at Zac, silently begging him to help him out here. Zac holds up his hands not knowing what to do either. Cam glares at him but before Mick can get the silent conversation Cam snaps his head back to face Mick.

“The.. the board. It wasn’t waxed properly… and you know- right? That's- That’s just a no go so I couldn’t get in the water… because of the board.” He slowly explains, with every word that comes out Cam seems to realize that it was a fool's attempt to even try to come up with an excuse.

“Cam if you put any more wax on that board you slip right off it.” Mick huffs. “I don’t care what’s gotten into you guys but you're on duty.” he says with pointed eyes darting between them. He and Cam are winch. “People's lives are on the line every minute that one of you stays here on land. So I don’t care who gets in the water, get on with it!” He commands.

Mick stomps away. “One in the chair! One in the water!” He shouts over his shoulder one last time. 

Zac jumps off the chair, tucking his fists in his side. Looking back and forth from the sea and back to Cam. An idea forming in his head, a stupid idea but it may be their only choice. 

“I’m going in.” He states already making his way to the shoreline. 

“What!?” Cam comes sprinting in front of him, arms stretched out in front of him in protest. “What!?” he shrieks again. “Have you absolutely gone mad?!” 

“If I go deep enough in the water people won’t even see the tail.” He walks around Cam. To be honest, he knew it was an idiotic thing to do. Only one lost snorkeler and he was toast. But Mick was right, people's lives were on the line and they swore an oath to do as much as they can do in their power to save the people that take a step on this beach.

“You can’t honestly believe that.” Cam protested. He places his hand on Zac’s shoulder making him halt in his step. “Zac please I-” Cam didn’t get to finish his pleading.

“You two!” Someone shouts at them. Both him and Cam turned to the voice, it was Grace from the outpost next to theirs. “I need one of you to go to the cafe, I got a kid with a heat stroke.” She orders quickly before running off again, probably back to the sick kid. 

He and Cam look at each other uncertain. 

“I’ll get the ice, you-” Cam points at Zac. “Stay on land.” and Cam dashes off leaving Zac standing on the beach.

\----

So far the day has been going quite well if David had to say so himself. There was a good amount of people enjoying a meal or juice in the cafe. Carly is doing an amazing job as always and Evie seems to have sold a couple of pieces herself. No incidents have happened so far, he made sure of that. He bought a ton of extra rubber gloves for washing up and making drinks, Carly and Evie gave him weird looks, teasing him about his sudden fear of dirty dishwater. He let their comments slide, cause after all he won’t let his business suffer just because a little water was now a danger to him. 

He was worried for his friends though. Getting in the water was a must for their job. So he was keeping an ear out for screams about mermen every time he had to go outside to check on customers, but none so far.

Inside, he was just finished with making the pancakes for the girl at table one when he notices the three unfamiliar girls walking in. They stood out like a sore thumb, walking like newborn deers that fell in a laundry basket that wasn’t their own. Nonetheless, David put on his best smile and greeted the girls.

“Something to eat, ladies?”

“We rather just sit,” The blond girl on the left said. ”We've been walking all morning on legs.” David makes a face at the weird comment but lets it slide. He had weirder thing said to him.

“Okay, are you guys new in town?” He asks curiously. He’s sure he has never seen them around.

He escorts them to the nearest empty table.

The small brunette in the middle answered him. “Yes, you could say that.”

“We don’t visit a lot of land people.” The blond girl with the bangs chimes in again. 

_'Land people…?’_ David thought. He really didn’t want to make assumptions right away but he never heard anyone use that term. He was about to ask them if they wanted to order anything but he was interrupted.

Cam bursts in the cafe, looking frantically around. Within a second he felt someone just dropped a weight on his chest. _'Did something happen on the beach? Where is Zac?!'_ His head is spiraling with a million possible things that could have gone wrong. 

“David! Medical emergency!” Cam declared. “We need some ice, a kid got a heat stroke.”

David let go of the breath he was holding, the tightness in his chest leaving him. 

“How much?”

“A couple of bags would do.”

“Come on in the back.” he ushers the blond boy.

He leaves girls at the table, he is sure that one of the girls working today would get their order in. They hurry to the back, but before he opens the freezer he punches Cam’s arm. 

“ _Auw_! What was that for?!” Cam exclaimed, rubbing the spot with his other hand. 

“That’s for scaring the life out of me just then.”

“What? What are you talking about? We always come here for ice.” Cam said.

David closed his eyes and shakes his head - Cam could be so thick sometimes. “I thought one of you got exposed as a merman.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, oh indeed.” 

He opens the freezer and gets to where they keep the ice. Cam hands him a plastic bag, he carefully scoops up a bunch of ice - careful not to get the ice and bits of melted water on him. He learned from the first time he laid helplessly on the floor here. 

Cam doesn’t waste any time as he sprints back to the beach, David follows him till the counter. Looking into the cafe he sees that two of the three girls at table one have gone, the one with the bangs stayed behind at the table. 

He walks up to her table, he gets out the notepad and pen from his back pocket just for sure if she hasn’t been rung up yet. 

“Sorry about that, what can I do for you.” He asked, smiling at her.

The girl stands up. “I just… I just stayed behind to say that we are going.” She lowers her head shyly. “Though it would be rude to just leave all of a sudden.”

David had to admit, even though her sense of clothing style was a bit like a… truck driver. She was unlike any girl he had ever seen here at the Gold Coast, her skin was as smooth as silk and her eyes looked like the sea on a sunny day. 

She was gorgeous. 

“I- uh- Yeah.. no that’s fine.” He shakes his head trying to come out of his daze. “Will… will you be back?” 

Blue eyes find his and she smiles. He holds his breath. 

“I love to.” And she turns away and walks out of the cafe.

\----

Cam was gone for two minutes and of course, it all went down the hill.

Zac never felt so nervous sitting in the outlook chair, checking every noise that could be distress. So far they were all false alarms. 

Out of the blue, there is a sudden wind flare, the high chair he was sitting on was rocking left and right. He grips the armrests trying to get it to steady him and the chair. He looked around but no one on the beach seemed to have any problems with the sudden wind flare. He shrugs it off, but something in the back of his mind tells him there is something wrong with what just happened. 

He doesn’t get to even think a second longer about it. There was a girl screaming for help. Grabbing his binoculars as fast as he can he sees her, way too far in the sea flapping her arms around in panic. 

He has no time to think, he launches himself off the chair. The force of it made it fall over to the side. Adrenaline is pumping through his body as he sprints to the waterline. He hears the mom screaming to him to save her daughter. His feet make contact with the water. ‘ _This is it_ ’ he thinks to himself. He makes it to the deeper part and he dives. He almost didn’t even feel the change this time, his mind focused on the task at hand. He kicked his tail as fast as he could, water bubbles were forming around him as he sliced through the water. 

He reached the girl in record time. Swimming behind her in an attempt to hide his tail. He grabbed her under her armpits to hold her head above water and let her breathe, her head snapped back to see who rescued her. Her eyes rest on his face for about a second before they find his floating tail, her eyes grow wide and her mouth hangs open.

“You're a FISH!” She examines breathlessly.

“Hang on.” He said as he got her back on her bodyboard. He pushes her easily back to the shallow parts, careful not to beach himself. “You’ll be okay now.”

He watches as the mother grabs the girl and holds her tightly in her arms, he smiles at the happy reunion. But he can’t stay here, the longer he lingers in the water the more danger he is in of being exposed. Just before he dives down he sees Cam run up on the beach approaching the happy mother and daughter with a bag of ice in his hand.

His tail slaps the surface and he swims off to a quiet place to dry off.

\----

Cam was sure this was it. His best friend just went in the water to save a little girl that is now screaming about how said best friend turned into a fish. The mom wasn’t listening to the girls’ ramblings- to happy to have her daughter alive and well- so that was a pro.

While looking for his friend, Mick came running up to them. “What’s going on here?” He asked.

“That lifesaver rescued my little girl.” The mother said gratefully. 

Mick gives them a broad smile. “That’s our job ma'am.”

Cam takes this opportunity to ditch the bag of ice and go find his friend. “Mick, here is the ice for the kid with the heatstroke.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he hands over the bag and sprints to where he thinks Zac has gone to dry off. 

Sure enough, his friend just dragged his fishy body on the rocks, which surely wasn’t a great place to lay on. Zac had a towel in his hands that he stole, from the looks of it, from the people that left their bags just a meter away from where his friend laid. 

“That was a _big_ risk you just took.” He said.

Zac’s head shot up. “Jeez, Cam don’t scare me like that.” He blurted out. 

“We can’t do this anymore.” Cam states looking over the state of his friend.

“Do what?” Zac askes dumbly.

“THIS!” He points at the sea. “All of this Zac! Live saving! Jumping into the water! This time it was just a little girl who saw you but what about next time, huh? When more people get rescued by the local mermen and people start talking, our lives will be _over_!” He protested. 

“You didn’t see how fast I was Cam. We could save so many people with this.” Zac counters. “We can be heroes.”

Cam closes his eyes and rubs a hand over his face in frustration and the ignorance of his friend. He closes his hand into a fist and starts counting to ten, trying to not explode at Zac. A sizzling sound reaches his ears.

“ _Auw!_ ” 

His eyes shoot open, he looks back down at his friend. His steaming friend. He scowls, confused. What is happening? 

“What are you doing?!” He asks Zac.

“I’m not doing this!” Zac stressed. He searches Cam, his eyes land on his fist, and points a finger at it. Cam looks unsure and slightly scared at his own hand.

‘ _Am I doing this?’_

He stretches out his finger and the steaming stops. 

Holy shit… He did that. He wasn’t sure what he just did though. Zac runs his hand over his scales and looks at him with raised brows. 

“Do that again.” Zac tells him.

“What...?” He asks unsure.

“The fist thing! Do try it again.” He insists, making the hand motion that Cam did just a second ago. Cam looks unsure at his friend but closes his fist slowly this time. Once again the sizzling sound comes back along with the steam. They both look in awe at what’s happening right in front of their eyes.

Within seconds Zac is back in his yellow uniform absolutely dry.

“Woah...” 

Zac stands up he smiles at him and even though Cam was frustrated as hell just now he can’t help himself from smiling too. 

\----

They end their life-saving shifts and go back to his place to relax. Zac sends a text to David asking him to come over when he is done at the cafe. 

For some reason, his mom decided to clean his room- even though she said she wasn’t going to bother anymore, and knock a bunch of things over. But their focus on the room soon forgotten. They had to try out the awesome new powers they got!

Zac grabbed all the water bottles out of his mini-fridge that he could hold in his arms, and he and Cam went to work. Bending the water the other day was easy, but when it came to making a water ball float in the air without spilling it on them was a tad bit more difficult. 

Cam on the other hand was having a blast making his water boil till it vaporized completely going through his water bottles in rapid time. When he was actually through his share of water, his focus was set on Zac’s water balls. Before they knew it they had made it a game. Zac would make the water race through the room as Cam was to try and do his vaporizing. 

They completely lost track of time while playing their little game of superpowered ‘Your it’. The ball was flying around at top speed to the front of the bedroom- trying to escape his best friends’ heating powers- as the door without a warning slaps open. 

Zac had no time to stop the water ball, not yet perfected the hitting the breaks part of his powers, as it was headed straight to Davids's face. They could only watch in horror as the water ball was about to hit the curly-haired boy. David raises his arms, palms forward.

Instead of a splash hitting him a hard globe hit him full on in the chest. The boy let out an “ _Ompf_ ” as the thing hits him. He and Cam watched mouth gaping. David looked at them with a frown and at a loss for words. Looking down Zac now saw a pile of scattered ice laying on his floor. 

“Well, that was a quick way to find out what David's power is.” Cam jested.


	3. Prawns for breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prawns, first school days, new students and group swims.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Mako Mermaids, all of that belongs to Jonathan M. Shiff.

Today was the start of the new school term. Zac woke up way too early for his liking- not sure if it was school jitters or just a bad night’s sleep. Cam wouldn’t be around before 8 am to go grab breakfast at the Ocean Cafe. Ever since David became a manager they have been eating there almost every morning wanting to support their friend.

_‘A quick swim wouldn’t hurt anyone.’_

Swimming before school wasn’t exactly a new thing he did. Before becoming a merman he would often train in his swimming pool. Having to keep fit for both the swimming team and life-saving. Both things he had to give up now that he is a merman. Cam and he both quit their jobs yesterday. Mick - their now former boss - wasn’t happy with the sudden loss of two lifesavers without any proper explanation, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The water was beautiful today, the morning sunlight shimmering all around him. He had noticed that ever since the transformation that his vision underwater was now as clear as day, he hadn’t tested it out in the dark yet but he was sure that it had improved too. The saltwater didn’t sting his eyes either. 

He exited the canal to open waters. Most people would find the void of the ocean unsettling. However, to him, it felt like a place he could finally think clearly. It was only him and his thoughts here. 

He made a few good kicks before he went into ‘torpedo mode’ as he likes to call it. Smiling as the bubbles surround him, the calm he felt just a moment ago soon gone with adrenaline. Loving the speed.

By the time he was back home Cam was already there waiting for him on the jetty. 

He breaks the water surface. “Hey, Cam.” He greets.

Cam looks down at him “About time you got here, a minute more and I think my stomach would have eaten itself.” Cam complaints.

He huffs at his best friend, always so dramatic. “If you give me a hand with getting dry that would be nice.” 

“You’re lucky I’m in such a generous mood this morning, otherwise you and your fishy tail were on your own.” Cam looked around for any unwelcome eyes as Zac got himself up on the jetty. Once all the way up Cam used his power to steam him dry. Quickly they go to his room to grab his stuff for school. 

“So why the early swim? Nervous about today?” Cam asks.

Zac shrugs. “Just another day back at school.”

Cam frowns. “I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about the fish thing. What if we get splashed and turn into tuna.” He worries.

He really doesn’t see what the big deal is. “How are we going to get splashed?” Zac asks. Out of all the places they frequently go to, school is the most water safe of them all.

“School is a red zone! There are hundreds of ways!” Cam stresses.

“Name one.” He said.

Cam sputters. “... Science class. It’s full of test tubes and those fat bottles.”

He grabs Cam by the shoulders looking him in the eyes to reassure him. “You're stressing too much.”

“I’m not stressed.” Cam denies.

Zac raises his eyebrows at him.

Cam sighs. “Okay, maybe I’m a little worried.” He admits. “But I have a good reason, so don’t look at me like I’m crazy.” Cam said, pointing a finger at him.

He lets loose of Cam’s shoulders. “I’m not doing that!”

“Good.” Cam nods. “Now let's go, I’m starving.”

\----

Evie was already at the cafe when they arrived. She looks up from her breakfast sandwich at Zac, his heart starts beating a bit faster as he sees her smile. He sometimes still can’t believe that she was his girlfriend even though they have been dating for almost half a year. 

Their first date was a picnic on Mako Island. Evie had made an incredible basket full of their favorite foods and drinks. They ate until their bellies were full and talked for hours till the sun was setting down. The water shimmered a stunning orange- practically screaming at them to get in. It took some persuasion from his end but eventually, he got Evie on board with the late evening dip. She dove down into the dept and resurfaced right in front of him. Her face inches away from him. The kiss that followed - their first kiss - was magical.

Meeting her lip now for a small peck was just as nice though. “Good Morning.”

“Alright, alright enough of that, remember I’m here too and I’m not third-wheeling this early in the morning.” Cam protested. 

Evie rolls her eyes. “Good morning to you too Cam.” 

They sit down at the table and grab the menus. Honestly, he didn’t really have to look to know what was on it. He knew the menu by heart. But it was nice to look through all the options. His eyes scan the familiar text, but none of the usual favorites seem to do it for him this morning. He turns the menu to the section that nobody ever looked at this early in the morning; the fish dishes.

The waitress comes up to their table and asks for their order, Cam orders a fruit salad. Then the girl turns to him.

“I’ll have the prawn breakfast bowl please.” He smiles at her. The waitress gives him a funny look but decided to not comment on the strange order. His girlfriend and best friend on the other hand both were looking at him like he was a crazy person.

“Prawns… for breakfast?” Evie queried. 

“Yeah, I have this weird craving for them all of a sudden.” 

Cam’s eyebrows shoot up. “Evie, check his temperature real quick. I think he is coming up with something.” Evie laughs and places her hand on his forehead. Zac rolls his eyes but smiles at the antics of the two.

They didn’t need to wait long for his and Cam’s food. The smell of the prawns hits his nose, and _god they smelled heavenly_. Sure he liked prawns before just as well but never like this. He wastes no second longer and dives in. Hastily he puts the prawn in his mouth, the taste of them even better than the smell. Moaning as he chews the fishy goodness. 

“Enjoying yourself there mate?” Cam says with his nose crinkled up in disgust.

He nods as he swallows the prawn. “Uhuh, Cam this is amazing. You should try one.” He picks up one of the prawns and holds it out for him, but Cam holds up his hand- rejecting his offer. “No thanks, I’ll stick to my fruit salad.”

Zac shrugs and continues eating. Evie finishes her breakfast by the time he has the third prawn in his mouth. Cam was about to take a spoonful of grapes and blueberries when a voice interrupted them.

“Hi. I’m Lyla. Your Zac.” The blond - Lyla apparently _-_ states. He looks up at her, not sure what is happening at the moment. He sneaks a glance at Evie but she was just as lost as he was. 

“Yep.”

“You’re a lifesaver. I’ve seen you on the beach.”

He raises his eyebrows. ‘ _Why would she point that out? Unless…’_ Panic courses through him. Did she see him with a tail the other day?

“I really want to be one too. Can you show me how?” And the panic leaves just as fast as it came. 

He shrugs. “I guess… but I’m no longer a-”

She didn’t seem to listen to him and cuts him off. “Great, let’s go.” As she turns around already ready to leave.

Evie comes to his rescue. “Hi, I’m Evie, Zac’s girlfriend. I’m sure there is a qualified lifesaver at the beach who is just as capable of helping you with that.” There is a gleam in her eyes challenging the strange girl. “Unless there is a problem?”

“Actually, there is one, but I’d rather not share it with you.” Lyla snaps back. _That_ was his cue to end this conversation and go. Cam seemed to have the same idea as he just like Zac stuffs the last of his breakfast in his mouth. 

He swallows his last prawn and looks up at Lyla. “As Evie said, if you go to the surfs club down at the beach I bet someone would love to help you.” He gives her a quick smile. Evie is already out of the door. He grabs his bag to go join her. Two other girls walk past him towards Lyla. He stops at the door waiting for Cam to come along, but his friend seems to be occupied with Lyla and her friends.

He walks out of the cafe and joins his girlfriend on the pier, she frowns. “Where’s Cam?” 

Zac points to the cafe. “He seems to be trying his luck with Lyla and her friends.” Evie smiles and rolls her eyes again at the antics of Cam. Zac grabs hold of her hand and they start walking their way to school- sure that Cam would catch up eventually. It felt nice for it to be just the two of them. After all the weird things that happened the last few days, it was a fresh breath of normalcy. Just him and his girlfriend enjoying each others company.

“Dad finally found someone for that job offer.” Evie said.

“Really?” He says surprised. “Who did he pick?”

“This young guy; dad hired him on the spot.” 

“Must be some guy then.” 

“Yeah, dad said that he was a free-diver that almost went pro a few years back. Apparently, he once dived more than 50 meters down.”

Zac whistles impressed. “He must have some lungs on him to do that.”

All of a sudden Evie changes the subject .“So what were you about to say to that girl.” He frowns, not sure what she was implying.

“You were about to say that you weren’t longer something.” 

He focuses his gaze away from her, not sure how he was going to explain to her why he quit his job. He thought he had more time to think of a good excuse. 

“I quit life-saving.” He states. “I just- with school starting up again and all, I thought it was better to- you know keep my focus on that.” 

Her face changes from curious to concerned. She claps his hand in both of hers rubbing her thumbs over his in a reassuring way. “I didn’t realize you struggled so much with school. I could help study with you if that is any help.” 

There was a clump in his throat, even though the lie was small it felt like he just did something horrible in some way. But he couldn’t tell her, what if she broke up with him because he was now part fish?! Not only that but this was not just his secret to tell, he had to think about Cam and David too. 

“That would be great, thanks.” He smiles and leans in to give her a peck on the lips but Evie's hand pushes him back. He looks at her in confusion. 

“You’re not kissing me after eating all those prawns.” She giggles, and he couldn’t hide his own amusement even though the guilt of lying was still present in the back of his mind. 

\----

Carly and he seem to be the first of their friend group to arrive at school. The halls were fairly quiet with only just a few students roaming around in the early morning. David liked being here before the storm of students rushing around to get to their classes, to calmly gather his things from his locker. 

He and Carly have been going to school together for years. Carly's family lived around the corner from him. She wasn’t much of a morning person as he was meaning that most of their walks to school were in silence until Carly had drunk enough coffee from the thermos she carried around with her. He didn’t mind the quiet though. 

At school they parted ways for their lockers, Carly’s was on the ground floor next to Evie’s. His on the other hand was located a level above. He unlocks the door and opens the locker. It was empty, he had taken all his books and tools with him at the end of last term needing them for the home assignments they had been given. A thin layer of dust was visible from the lack of use and cleaning during the break. He tries to clean it up a bit by wiping it away with his hand. Once sort of clean he opens his bag and takes out the books he wouldn’t need until lunch break, making it less heavy to carry around all day. 

His first class would be biology followed by maths. He wasn’t big on biology but maths was in fact important after all now that he was trying to run a business. Closing the locker and turning around he noticed that it was already becoming more crowded in the halls. He makes his way down to where Carly and hopefully the rest of his friend would be gathered. 

As he walked down the stairs he could hear Cam’s voice. “- that is the general idea, yes.” The blond boy stands at the end of the stairs with three girls. “Where are yours?” He asks, pointing at the brunet. 

“Locker area. I like that.” She says dodging the question and walks towards the metal lockers. The three girls wander off into the hallway, the last one walking straight into David’s chest. He grabs her arms to keep her from falling. 

Blue eyes look up at him and his heart quickens. He honestly didn’t think he would see the girl from the other day again so soon. She had seemed to have abandoned the baggy clothes she wore yesterday for a nice tank top and a denim skirt, but he was sure she would look good in anything. 

“Sorry!” She squeaked. 

“It’s okay…” He never got her name, the exchange yesterday was so hasty that he never got to ask her. “I’m David, we met yesterday. Nice to meet you.” He introduces himself and holds out a hand for her to shake. She smiles brightly at him, her eyes travel to his outstretched hand, and frowns and tilts her head at it like a puppy. She hesitantly grabs his thumb, making it his turn to frown.

 _'Has she never given a handshake before?’_ He thinks to himself. For good measure he shakes it anyway, chuckling at himself at the action.

“I’m Sirena.” Her name echoes in his head with no intention of leaving anytime soon. The unusual but beautiful name soothed her, as she was just as unique as it. 

He cast his eyes from hers to see that he was still shaking his hand. Oh no, that was weird! Quickly he takes his hand back, startling her. Shoot! now he made it weirder! Say something!

He makes a fast assumption and goes with it. “I didn’t know you went here? What do you got up next?” School, yes that was a safe topic. 

Again she tilts her head, her big blue eyes look confused at him like he said something weird. Did he assume wrong? Why else would she be here if not to go to school?

“You’re next class?” He asks. “I’ve got biology.”

Her eyes widen. “Is that painful?”

David isn’t sure if it is a joke but takes a chance on it. “Totally,” he smiles “how about you?” 

“Yeah me too.” She said. For once in his life, David was happy about having biology. Maybe they could sit next to each other? Wouldn’t that be nice, they could partner up for all sorts of team projects, his mind racing with all the possibilities.

“My sympathies,” He tries to counter her joke, which seemed to work as she smiles at him again making his heart do a 360 from joy. “I can show you to the class.” 

“Sure!” She says happily. 

\----

Biologie sucked. Watching the teacher fumble around with the plastic organs was just sad, he almost felt bad for the guy. He tries to tune out the teacher as he attempts to assemble the dummy with little luck. 

Cam rather wanted to think about how he was going to take one of those chicks from this morning out on a date. He couldn't believe his luck this morning with the three new girls. As much as he likes to brag to others how much of a flirt he was, he had little luck with the ladies as in till now. But these girls - who were currently sitting behind him - almost threw themselves at him. 

Nixie, Sirena, and Lyla; he found out they were called. He didn’t find out anything else about them besides that they were new in town and this was their first time in any school. Lyla was a bit scary, she basically interrelated him the entire walk to school wanting to know everything about his life. Nixie acted as the defuser when Lyla went too far and Sirena was mostly silent looking around the area like she never seen the world before, only talking to agree or give a quick opinion. 

When they reached the locker area he immediately knew that Sirena was out of limits. The way she and David looked at each other was sickeningly sweet. So his choice to pursue was between Nixie and Lyla, and that choice was easy. Lyla was way too intimidating, even for the Camster. So he had his mind set on Nixie. 

Finally, the bell rang. He let out a grown and slid down his chair. First days _suck_. 

They gathered up their stuff and quickly headed out of the classroom. David and Carly said their goodbyes as they headed off to their advanced math class. Cam wasn’t sure why they put themself through that torture, regular maths was already bad enough.

Evie, Zac, and he had a free period. They headed to their usual spot near the fountain. He and Zac didn’t need to be overly cautious for the water as the fountain wasn’t anything wild or splash everywhere. 

“So Cam, Zac told me he quit his job? Are you going to be okay without him?” Evie remarked. He glances at his friend, who avoids his gaze, they had agreed beforehand that they wouldn’t tell her or Carly yet. First needing to come up with a good reason for the sudden decision. 

He turns back to Evie. “Yeah, actually about that I decided to quit too.” It was better to come clean now that the cat was out of the bag.

“What? Really? Are you having trouble with school too?” So that was the lie Zac came up with… not bad. Evie valued school above anything- after all, she was trying to get this big-time scholarship from the University of Melbourne.

“Well not per se struggling like Zac over here,” He grabs Zac shoulder basically feeling the glare the boy sends him. “but you know, we can’t have any distractions keeping us from our academic pursuit.”

She narrows her eyes. “Right. I’m sure that's your reason for quitting.” He lets go of his hand and places it over his heart and dramatically gasps at her. “Are you accusing me of taking advantage of Zac’s, my best friend, situation to have even more free time to do absolutely nothing?” He exclaimed mockingly.

“Yes.” She smirks. 

He drops the act and laughs. “Alright, you got me.” He says raising his hand. 

All of a sudden Zac starts to make weird noises beside him letting out something between a cough and a moan. His forehead was starting to shimmer with sweat and his brows were knitted together in discomfort. “Hey, Zac are you okay?” He asks. 

“Yea… I’m feeling kinda hot. It’s really warmed up.”

“Warmed up?” Evie repeats, she glances at Cam, he shrugs at her not feeling hot himself. “I really don’t think so.” By the second Zac looks more in distress. Zac’s gaze travel to his hands. It takes him a second to understand why. Then it hits him. Zac thought he was doing this to him! He feels kinda hurt that Zac would even think that he would use his powers on him like this, nevertheless in front of Evie. He stretches out his finger dramatically to show Zac that this wasn’t him.

“Hey, are you alright?” Evie asks more urgently. 

“You don’t look so good.” Cam states. 

Just as quick as it came it was gone, Zac stopped wiggling around in discomfort. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m good.” He reassures them. “I’m feeling kinda weird.” He shakes his head. “Must have been those prawns.” 

Evie reaches for her bag to grab her water bottle and offers it to Zac. He grabs it at lightning speed and uncaps it, chucking it back like a man that was deserted in a desert. Just as he finished almost more than half the bottle the next weird thing happened. The calm fountain suddenly _sprouts_ high in the air. Cam sees it happen in slow motion. The drops of water coming his and Zac’s way with no way to avoid it. The drops of water touch his skin and he and Zac look at each other with wide eyes. 

There was no time to think, his body just sprang up and sprinted down the hall. He could hear Evie’s voice calling out for him and Zac but he had no time to even respond. Every second he wasted on anything else but getting away was a one-way ticket to a lab. He had to run. Zac was on his heels following him down the hallway. They couldn’t stay there. To his left there were two big white doors, he grabbed the handles and thanked every god he could think of as they opened. Zac was just able to make it inside as the flowy sensation of transforming into a fish boy came over him. 

Two big _splats_ filled the room. Cam hissed through his teeth as he felt the sting floor meeting skin. Next to him Zac let out a grown. They lay there for a good ten seconds in silence. 

Zac eventually pushes himself up and looks around the room to see if anyone is still there. Cam slowly pushes himself up too. Leaning on his elbows to gather his face in his hand in desperation.

“This is the worst first school day ever.” He groans. 

“Come on Cam, we don’t have time to sulk.” Zac says. Cam lets one last sigh go and gets to work. He stretches his arm out behind him and slowly makes a fist with his hands cautious not to burn himself. The drying process felt uncomfortable but he had to push through to get his sweet sweet legs back again. He looks to his left to see Zac trying to dry off with rolls of paper towels, a much slower way than him steaming himself, for a moment Cam was grateful he got the heating power out of the three of them. 

Not needing to wait any longer, his legs were back quickly and he stood up. Zac's tail was now half-covered by rolls of paper bits and pieces sticking to his scales. “Here I’ll help.” He announces to his still fishy friend and repeats the process. 

Soon enough Zac was also on his feet. “Come on, let go back.” Zac says. Cam stops him, placing a hand on his chest. Zac furrows his brows at him in confusion. “Cam?”

“What the hell happened back there mate?” 

“I don’t know. I just suddenly felt weird like… like someone was boiling me alive,” Zac looks deep in thought. “And then the fountain just exploded.”

“Do you think we lost control?” He asks. 

Zac shakes his head. “No I wasn’t doing anything, neither were you.” 

“How can we be sure?” He questions his friend, but he never got an answer. 

“ _Zac? Cam_?” Evie's voice calls them from outside the hall. She must think them crazy by now, running off like that. An idea pops up in his head.

“What if we tell Evie?” 

“What!? No!” Zac protests. 

“No wait Zac, think about it. If we have someone on our side that knows all of this would be way easier! They could cover for us, and who better to do that than Evie?” He tries to convince Zac but it seems like it was no use.

“I’m not pulling Evie into this mess Cam.” Zac's voice was stern, there was no way to argue with him at this point. Zac lets out a deep breath. “I don’t want her to worry any more than needed.” His voice calmer now. 

He wants to argue more but he knows they can’t stay here any longer. “We should go.” Cam says quietly, he doesn’t wait for confirmation from his friend as he walks out of the room. 

\----

Zac felt bad arguing with Cam, but he just couldn’t tell Evie. For her sake and for his. He couldn’t let her life be taken over by his secret. 

They told her some half-assed excuse for running off all of a sudden. Something about Cam’s phone getting wet and needing to dry it off as quickly as possible before it died. She didn’t really buy it but didn’t make a fuss about it. 

The day went without any more incidents. David got away with no accidents thankfully. The new girls’ Cam brought with him disappeared out of nowhere, there was a rumor going around that the principal kicked them off the school grounds. David and Cam seemed to be bummed out about it wanting to see them again.

“I can’t believe all of that happened when I was away.” David states as he walks into Zac’s room. 

Cam claps David on the back. “Believe me you wouldn’t want to be there.” Cam makes his way to the couch and crashes down. 

Zac grabs a water bottle from his mini-fridge. “At least it was an exciting first day back.” Zac jokes. 

“Exciting? It was out of control!” Cam protests. “We’re so lucky we didn’t get caught.” 

“Look from what I heard it sounds like a freak accident. But Cam is right, we need to be more careful.” David said, trying to keep the peace. Neither he nor Cam of them said anything. 

Zac drank the last of his water and threw away the plastic bottle. “I’m going for a swim.” He announced, uncomfortable with the sudden tension in the room. He glances at the other two boys. “Wanna come along?” He asks in an attempt to lighten the mood between him and his best friend.

The two seem hesitant. “Swim… like in the ocean?” Cam asks.

“Yeah, come on it will be fun.” He waves for them to follow him outside. He takes a small sprint on the jetty and dives in, legs turn into a single blue tail. He resurfaces, Cam and David stand on the jetty. Neither of them made any move to get in the water. “Come on, jump in!” He shouts.

“I’m not sure Zac…” David stammered. 

“What if someone sees us?” Cam questions.

“No one will see you, come on don’t leave me hanging here guys.” He pleads. 

David was fidgeting around switching his weight from foot to foot, glancing between him and Cam. One last long gaze in the water makes him make up his mind and he dives in. His head comes above water, his arms paddling to keep his head above water, the tail making jerky movement. It then dawned on Zac, both Cam and David haven’t even swum with their new tails! 

Cam was still on the jetty, his arms crossed. There was no way he was getting in, not without a little push. An idea pops into his head. He holds his hand up, forming a water ball and levitating it towards his best friend. 

Cam looks up alarmed. “Zac, what are you doing?” 

“Getting you in the water.” He smirks.

Cam holds up his own hand to try and vaporize the water. Zac is faster as he thrusts his hand forward making the ball fly straight into the blond boy, the impact making him stumble back. Staring at his wet clothes with wide eyes. Cam had just two options either falling on the hard wooden jetty or a nice dive into the canal. 

Canal it was. Shaking the shock off, the blond dived in. Cam resurfaced more gracefully than David- seeming to have more control of the tail. Cam splashed water at him. “You’re an arse.” 

“Yeah, yeah” He waves off, grinning at Cam. “Race ya to the end of the canal?” He challenges. 

“Oh your on.” Cam says determinedly. 

“Wait guys I’m still not-” David gets cut as they dive down kicking their tails into drive. 

Cam was just a flick of the tail away from tying with him. He looks over his shoulder to see if David is following along, the curly-haired boy seemed to be a bit slow but keeping up.

His check-in with David however lost him his pole position as Cam speeds past him kicking his blue tail even harder than before. _But_ Zac had a trump card up his sleeve, Cam was fast but no match for what he was about to pull. Three powerful kicks do the trick and he torpedos off. The water blurs around him as he comes closer and closer to the finish. 

He wins easily, Cam was way behind. He didn’t need air yet but he went back to the surface anyway. Moments later Cam’s head pops up. “That,” He waves his hand at Zac. “was cheating. How did you get that fast?” 

Zac grinned. “It’s all in the tail man. You gotta kick off just right and then you just...” He trusts his hand forward, making a _whooshing_ sound. Cam laughs. 

Finally, David appears next to Cam, his lips pressed together tight. “Thanks for thinking of me back there.” He remarked sarcastically. 

“Sorry Dave, we go slow.” He apologizes. “Ready to go into open waters?” He asks the two. His two friends glance at each other, having a silent conversation between them. They look back at him and give him a quick nod. 

“But for the record If I see a great white, I leave you two in a heartbeat.” Said Cam before he dips down again. David shakes his head and follows the blond. Zac not far behind. 

The three of them swim next to each other, Cam to his right and David on the left- swimming so close that he could feel their body heat. In a weird way, it felt natural having the other two swimming so close to him, falling easily in sync with each other’s kick of the tail. Swimming like this felt right like this is how it’s supposed to be. Gliding through the water as a well-oiled team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfff... This chapter took me way too long to write and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it. I haven't had much time to write due to my full-time job, but I do have a clear outline for the next few chapters so that is handy. 
> 
> Anyways thank you all for the kudos and comments on the last chapter I really appreciate it :)
> 
> Also if you want to I made a Tumblr page for this story so if you want to you can follow me on that. https://writing-the-seven-sins.tumblr.com/


	4. Older brothers am I right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New powers, annoying older brothers, and speed boats.

Cam had to admit this whole mess they got themselves into was all worth it once you swam over the reefs. 

The variety of sea life creatures that he got to see in the past week along with the many different colorful corals and underwater plants in the morning sun was breathtaking. 

Sharks though he still was wary of- he saw too many movies to trust those little shits. Nope, he was not going to become shark food any time soon.

The past week has been quiet in comparison to the first chaotic few days of being part dolphin. The only scare was the sudden storm that came last Friday. Making the annual father-son camping trip that Zac and his dad had a bit of a problem. They were able to stall long enough to sit out the storm- thank god for Lyla and Sirena and their freak rash. 

His best friend, who was swimming next to him, seemed to have accepted this life almost instantly. Apart from his troubles with keeping the secret from Evie and his parents he acted like this was the most normal thing to happen to any 16 years old. 

His lungs are starting burn. He puts his fist to his chest, signaling to Zac that he is low on air. Zac nods and gives him a thumbs up. Together they swim up.

“I don’t get it.” He exclaims as he wipes his hair back. “How is it that I have to go up every 15 minutes and you seem to be fine for double that time.” 

“Maybe it’s a stamina thing?” Zac questions. “Do you wanna head back?”

Cam looks over to his right. Mako’s beach was not too far from here. They had nothing planned for today- all of their friends were working at the cafe, so this was the perfect opportunity. 

“How about we head to Mako, I’ve been wanting to try something.” He suggests.

Zac glances at Mako Island, and shrugs. “Sure.”

\----

Back on their legs again, they head up into the jungle. Zac wasn’t sure what Cam wanted to do here. During his camping trip with his dad, he tried to find the cave again, but he had little luck. So if that was why they were here, they would be wasting their time. 

Cam stops at a stream. “Yeah, this will do.” Cam claims.

Zac looks around trying to find anything special about this place. The stream wasn’t anything special, it had a good flow to it he guessed. On the bottom were several pebbles and even some plants and algae. Around the clearing were several trees and vines. 

“So are you going to tell me what we’re doing here or…?” He questions, eyebrows raised. 

Cam turns to him. “So I’ve been thinking. We got these powers right?” Zac gives a quick nod in return, Cam continues. “You make water float; David freezes it and I can heat it, which is obviously the best power if I say so myself.” He brags. “But who said that that was the only thing we can do?”

Zac thought about it, Cam did have a point there. To be honest he had not really done much with his power other than flying his drinks directly into his mouth. He really has been focused on swimming though, there was just so much to explore! 

“So what do you reckon we do? Whip our hands around in the hope that something happens?” He asked. He is pretty sure he saw that happen in a movie once. 

“How about you show me how the whole water move thingy works and I try to replicate it?” Cam suggests. 

“Sure.” Zac puts his hand in front of him making a claw-like hand motion. The water begins to rise from the stream. Cam is watching his every move studying his hands and trying to mirror him. 

Nothing seemed to happen though.

With a big huff Cam lets his arm fall back. “Well I can stare at the water and do that weird hand thing all day but it’s not gonna work.”

He let the water down and turned to his friend and crosses his arms. “Maybe you just need to have some patience, You tried it for like two seconds.” 

“No that’s not it.” Cam said, rubbing his chin in deep thought. Just a few seconds later the blond snaps his fingers and points at him seeming to have a eureka moment. “You have to guide me through what you're feeling.” 

He furrows his brows. “What I’m feeling?” 

“Yeah, how you're feeling or thinking about when you use your powers.” Cam explains. Zac looks at the palm of his hand, he never really put all that much thought into how his powers worked nevertheless how it felt. 

"Alright If you say so."

He closes his eyes and stretches his arm out again. Slowly but surely he feels it, the flow of power going from his chest to his shoulder and down to his hands. It was difficult to describe, the sensation was almost like a chilly waterfall running down his skin. The power dripping of is fingers waiting to be used; to change the world around them as he knows it. And he lets it do just that. Extending his power to the world, lifting it up from where it once was. 

The rush of letting go felt like nothing he felt before. 

Something grabbed his forearm. “-ac! Snap out of it!” Cam yells. His eyes snapped wide open, and he saw what he did. In front of him were hundreds of glistening drops of water, but that was not the weirdest part. Not only was he levitating the water but in between the drops were pebbles trembling in the air defying the laws of gravity. 

His jaw goes slack and he doesn’t know what to do. His mind is blank, and just like that the whole scene falls down back to the ground. The drops of water falling down like rain and the pebbles rippling the water in the stream. 

Cam let go of his arm, reminding Zac that he was there too. “What just happened…?” He asks his best friend, turning to look at him. Like him, Cam was in a state of shock. 

“I have no idea.” Cam breathes.

Zac swallows nervously. “Let's head back.”

\----

It was about lunchtime when they got to the cafe. Zac took a quick look around to see if Evie was working today but the little clothes shop was devoid of his girlfriend. 

“I mean I still can’t wrap my head around it. Like did you like make the pebbles float on their own or did the water lift them up? Is it like telekinesis? Or were the stones wet enough to be affected by you-” He claps his hand on Cam's mouth, shutting him up. 

He puts a finger to his lips. “Quiet down! What if someone hears you.” He hisses looking around them to see if anyone is listening in on his friends' crazy theories. Luckily there were no weird looks. They walk to the unoccupied table near the counter and sit down.

Cam hunches over the table. “But this is what I’m talking about Zac, we don’t know the limits of these powers. What if this is just the tip of the iceberg? Think of what we could do!” Cam whispers this time. 

“I’m sure we find all that stuff out soon, but can we eat first?” He really was hungry. “Why are you obsessed with the powers anyway?”

“How are you not?” Cam asks in return. “We’re basically superhero’s dude!” 

“So you want to run around in tights at night looking for crime?” He jokes. He can already see it in his mind- Cam in a colorful skintight costume on a rooftop broodingly looking over the city. 

“I would pay good money to see that.” An amused voice chimes in.

Both of them look up to see Carly smiling at their table, notepad and pen in hand. “So are you guys planning to do some sort of cosplay or something or…” She trails off, waving her pen in the air. 

“Oh yeah, it’s Cam's big passion as of late.” He said grinning, grabbing the opportunity to make a fool of his best friend. 

“Really? Wow Cam I have to see that one of these days.” She smiles. 

Cam gives her a thin smile back. “Sure.” 

Carly got back to business and held up her notepad. “So what can I get you guys today?”

“I’ll have a pineapple and mango smoothie and some blueberry pancakes, thanks.” Cam orders.

\----

The cafe was busy. Which was good, they needed to earn back the money after the sudden breakdown of the freezer. David has never been so happy to have powers that allowed him to freeze things. He saved so many products that day that he otherwise had to throw out. 

Cam and Zac seemed to have made their way to the cafe by now, Carly was standing at their table writing down their orders. The two most likely hungry after a swim. He would have joined them if it wasn’t for the cafe.

He looked at his watch, Joe should have been here an hour ago. His older brother has never been on time a day in his life. He had tried to complain to his parents about it, but Joe never got more than a slap on the wrist. He wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that his parents didn't want to have any conflict in the family business or because Joe brought in that big buyer. 

Speak of the devil. “Hey Bro.” Joe comes walking in with his cart, unbothered with his lateness. 

“You’re late.” He states annoyed already. 

“What's the big deal? You work too hard.” Joe snorts.

David throws a stink eye in Joe’s direction. “And you hardly work at all.” 

“I was busy. Buying a new boat, it's a beauty.” Joe said proudly, grinning from ear to ear. David wanted to scream at his older brother. A boat. A boat was more important than his job that he fought tooth and nail to get. A job that was supposed to be a partnership between the two brothers. 

His blood felt like it was about to boil.

Pushing his anger down in the corner of his soul he gave Joe a tight smile. “Yeah, I bet.”

“That's it?” Joe asked.

“Hi, David.” A girl's voice interrupts them. David’s head whips up to see Sirena and he immediately feels his body relax. 

“Hi, Sirena.” David said giving his best smile. 

But the happiness was of short notice as his brother decided to chime in. “Is this the girl you’re always talking about? You’re Sirena.” David cursed himself for ever mentioning her at the dinner table. He should have known that it would blow up in his face. 

“Yeah.” Sirena confirms smiling at Joe. 

“Hi, I’m Joe. His older brother. Oh, make that the better-looking one.” Joe brags. Sirena glances at him, unsure what was happening. “He talks about you all the time.” 

David thought quickly. “Just take a seat. I’ll be with you in a minute.” He said to her giving an escape, god he wished he could make one himself. 

“Okay, thanks.” She smiles again and turns to skip away to her friends that were already seated. 

“So, you gonna show her my boat?”

He looks back to his brother with disgust. He didn't want Sirena anywhere near anything that had something to do with his brother. “She wouldn’t be interested.” He said tight-lipped.

“Of course she would. You’re hopeless with chicks man.”

\----

Joe followed him to the freezer.

“Come on. See how she rides mate. Come for a spin.” Joe tries to convince him still.

David sighs. “I’m working Joe.”  _ ‘Unlike you’  _ he wanted to add. Again he was doing the work Joe should be doing. His brother was leaning back while David was putting the seafood in the freezer; rubber gloves on just to be sure. 

“They can manage without you for 10 minutes. Come on, once around the broadwater. It will be fun.” Joe tries again. 

“I’ve got customers waiting.” Not only that but stepping on a boat didn’t sound like a great idea with his new additions. One drop flying his way and he was toast. No way he would trust his brother with his new secret. 

“Like Sirena? Ask her along too. Trust me, It’s gonna impress her your brother’s got a state-of-the-art cruizer with awesome horsepower.” Joe said smugly. 

“Trust me, it’s not.”

“You wonder why you don’t have a girlfriend.” Joe said with the most disappointed voice. “Alright, if you don’t ask her I will.”

Alarm bells start ringing in David’s head. No way he was going to let his older brother anywhere near Sirena. “Okay, I’ll come. Just give me a second.” He said gritting his teeth together, mad that he let his brother win once again. 

\----

Busting in at a private conversation seemed to be something these new girls really like to do. 

Cam had to admit even though he liked Nixie the best out of the three new girls she sure was strange. In a good way though. He listens bemused as she rambles on and on about all kinds of seafood. It was an absolute trainwreck. 

“what do you think about that? About the Lobsters...” She stammered. “Not about me eating so many. Hundreds… no. Forget it”

Zac shrugs. “I guess.”

“Well, we should be friends!” She exclaims waving her arms around. “Cause we have so much in common.” 

And he couldn’t help it but let out a huff of air almost spitting out his blueberry pancake. This is probably the weirdest way someone tried to become friends with him. 

“Um, sure.” Zac said not really sounding so sure- probably trying to be polite. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see David walking out of the cafe following his brother. David glances over his shoulder making eye contact with him. Cam raises his eyebrows silently asking what is going on. David gives a curt nod towards his brother with an annoyed look on his face. There was no time to find out what was going on, but if it had anything to do with Joe, then that meant trouble. He was about to go after them but he got interrupted by a sudden shadow that loomed over him all of a sudden. 

Carly comes towering over him from behind. “Hey, here’s your takeaway order.” As she hands Zac his box of seafood. “I wouldn’t leave it out too long. Seafood tends to go off pretty quick.” She advised. The double message in her tone was loud and clear:  _ ‘This is your chance to escape.’ _

Zac takes no hesitation and runs with it. “Good point.” He turns to Nixie. “Sorry I gotta go.” Nixie looks defeated as she awkwardly stands up to join the other girls.

Zac turns to him. “She’s weird.” He loudly whispers.

“Yea, but she is cute.” Cam admits. He stands up and pats his best friend on the shoulder. “I’m going to see if David’s doing alright. He looked a bit stressed out just now.” 

“Alright, call me if you need me.” Zac nods. 

Cam walks out to the pier- the O’Cean brothers were nowhere to be seen. The loud noise of a motor fills the air. He walks up to the railing and there goes David on a speed boat. 

_ 'That’s not going to end well.’ _

\----

Zac wasn’t sure how he got himself into this situation. As he crouches down to open the mini-fridge and looks over his shoulder to take a look at the two girls that followed him home. Lyla stood by his trophies, her eyes wandering over them. Sirena was standing near the couch lost on what to do.

He truly didn’t know what to think of them. The two of them just had a strange vibe to them that he can’t put his finger on. 

He knew that he wasn’t the only one with those feelings and thought about them. Evie was at the edge of a full-on fight with Nixie the other day about some shoes. Something he thought only happened in movies, but apparently not.

Cam and David seemed to like them though, which had to count for something...  _ right? _ Sure Cam’s reason for liking Nixie was entirely based on looks but David seemed to be absolutely smitten by Sirena. Zac may be obvious with those things when they happen to him but it was clear as day how much of a crush the guy has.

He sighs as he gets on with storing the seafood in the fridge.

“First time I saw this place, I liked it.” Lyla smiles, gesturing to the room. 

Zac pauses and frowns. He turns back to her. “This is the first time.” He points out.

“Right, I mean when I walked in.” She shrugs off quickly. “My first impression.”

He lets it slip for now as he puts the last of the seafood in the fridge, it barely fits. 

“I like having my own space,” He explains. “Being independent.” 

“Is that why you don’t live with the pod?” Lyla asks.

Zac's eyebrows spring up.  _ ‘What did she just say?’  _ A quick glance at Sirena tells him that he isn’t the only one weirded out at the question as she is looking at Lyla with big eyes silently telling her friend to stop.

“What?!” He exclaims.

“Parents,” Lyla corrects quickly, suddenly looking very nervous, her eyes shifting between him and Sirena. “is that why you don’t live with your parents?”

He points to the backyard. “They're up in the house.” Zac deadpans. 

Sirena doesn’t skip a beat as she turns her head sharply towards Lyla. “Maybe we should go and find Nixie.”

“No, not yet.” Lyla protests. 

“But we said we would meet-”

“We only just got here.” Lyla hisses back ending the argument. Sirena sits down on his couch with a huff and folds her arms looking at the door. Lyla turns back to his trophies he hands gliding over them. 

Zac makes his way towards Lyla, her eyes sparkling with wonder at the shiny prizes. “What are all these?” She asks.

“Sporting trophies,” He states pointing at the shelves. “surfing, swimming, live-saving…” 

“You must be good then.” She says.

“Yeah,” It hits him like a brick wall just then. The fact that he can’t do all those things anymore. All those hobbies that used to make him happy- No  _ defined _ him. He was never able to just go surf or swim at a pool party with his friends. “I’m not really into all that now.”

“Why not?” Of course, she had to ask.

“I just… grown out of it, I guess.” It was a lame excuse. He couldn’t look at them anymore, without feeling a pang of sadness.

“I don’t think I would be able to give all this up just like that,” Lyla wonders. “If I was this good I would really miss it."

He grimaced. She had no idea just how much of what she said just now was true. He turns to her and their eyes meet- her eyes shining like they knew something he didn’t.

\---- 

“-Man there is nothing this baby can’t do. WOOH!” His brother rambles excitingly. David has tuned out half of it the minute they got on the new boat, trying to concentrate on the way the water splashed around them and trying to avoid it. 

If you asked him, this new boat wasn’t that far off from the last one his brother had. Okay, maybe it was faster than the last one because within minutes they were on the broadwater. 

David glances at his watch nervously, it was about time the cafe was going to be getting their second lunch rush. Carly would kill him if he left her on her own during that. 

“Joe I need to get back, it’s about to get busy again.” He says.

“Already? We’ve been gone for like 2 minutes. I’m sure they be-” He gets cut off by a beeping noise. 

“What’s that?” David asks.

“The fish finder. Look here.” Joe motions him to come look. “We got something here.” 

David leans overlooking at the small screen near the wheel. The screen was brightly colored showing the temperatures of what was below them. On it, there was a long purple blob moving around. He squints his eyes trying to take a better look at the shape to see if he recognized it. 

“What’s that?” His brother asks. 

“It’s big enough to be a dolphin.” He suggests.

Joe pauses and looks again at the creature on the screen. “It’s not like any dolphin I’ve ever seen.” Another pause. “Let’s follow it” 

“ _ What? _ ” 

“Yeah, come on. Let’s check it out.” 

David knew his brother was stupid and ignorant but this reaches a new low. “Are you kidding? That’s illegal, not to mention cruel.” 

“So? Who is gonna tell.” Joe challenges him, knowing fully that David had no leg to stand on. That if he snitched about this to the law enforcement that not only Joe would be punished but so would their family business. He could already see the local headlines.

David clenches his jaw tightly turning his gaze to the sea in front of him. Fury coursing through him. He hated this- the helplessness that only his brother was able to make him feel and not being able to lift one finger against it.

Not sure if the rushing in his ears was because of the motor or the blood pumping through his ears.

\----

Lyla moved her way through his room inspecting every little detail there was- like a detective looking for clues. Which led to Zac shadowing her like the culprit trying to set her investigation on the wrong foot- erasing the evidence. 

She picked up one of his fishing reels holding it close to her face, the shiny metal reflecting in her eyes. “Do much fishing?” The interrogation started anew. 

“Cam and I go out a bit.”

“Where do you go?”

“Out in the bay.”

“What about that island offshore?” His heart skips a beat. “What’s it called?”

“Mako.” He said swiftly. 

“Right, Mako.” She says. “Ever caught anything out there?” Why was he so worried? She was only asking about fishing, get it together!

“Nah. It’s not a good spot.” He says dismissively.

“Maybe you use the wrong bait.” She suggests spinning the reel around. 

He had enough of it. “Doesn’t matter what I use,” He steps in front of her and grabs the reel out of her hands, and looks her in the eyes. “Nothing works.” He walks back to the couch to sit down.

“Bet I could catch something.” She challenges him looking smug. 

“What makes you think you can do better than anyone else?” He fires back.

“Instinct.” She smirks.

He chuckles. “Suddenly you're an expert?” He watches her slide next to Sirena- he kind of forgot she was there. 

“I’ll prove it to you.” She said sure or herself. “We should check it out sometime.”

And there was the mood killer. He looks at the reel in his hand- yet another reminder of all the new restrictions his life had. 

“No point,” He sighs. “I’m done with the whole fishing thing.” He sets the reel on the coffee table. 

Lyla frowns. “Like you’re done with the whole swimming and surfing thing? Are you allergic to water or something?” Zac's mind went blank. How was he supposed to answer that? Sirena seemed to be shocked by the question as her eyes went wide and stared at Lyla.

“Joke.” She said, but there it was again that _ look _ .

\---- 

“There it is,” Joe speaks up. “it’s coming up under us.”

Even though he was mad at his older brother he couldn’t help but be curious over what they’re chasing. He scoots over to the edge of his seat to look at the screen. “What is that?”

“Never seen anything like it. I told you, man, I told you it was something weird.” Joe pipes. 

David kept staring at the screen, something was not right. The way it moved was too bizarre for anything other than a dolphin, but the shape the screen was displaying was just not right. 

He looked around at the water trying to spot any gray fins but there was nothing. It could be a lone dolphin… but that still wouldn’t explain what they were seeing on the fish finder. 

“WOW! look at that thing go!” His brother suddenly cries out. David snaps his gaze back at the little screen seeing the creature speed off. “That is no dolphin down there.”

He hates that his brother is right, cause it wasn’t. No dolphin could swim that fast, but a merman could. He saw it- hell  _ he _ swam that fast. 

“Let’s find out what that thing is.” Joe said. Panic filled David’s very being, what if Cam or Zac followed them?! If his brother hunted them down and found out there was no way he wouldn’t blabber to everyone about his find. 

Joe pushes the handle and the boat jumps into its sports gear, the sudden speed pushing David into his seat. 

“There it is!” Joe exclaims as the merman pops back on the screen. David's breathing becomes more rapid, he has to do something! He glanced over at his brother, maybe he could grab the wheel. Freeze the propeller?

“Did you see that?” Joe asks, amazed. “Did you see how it just turned like that?”

“Call it off!” David demands. 

Joe looks at him like he just said the dumbest thing in the world. “Are you crazy? I wanna know what it is!” And he makes a quick u-turn following the merman back to the canal. 

“You're scaring it, man.” David tries to reason. 

“I’m not going to lose it now.” God, why didn’t he get a brother that actually cared about living creatures and their feelings!

“Quit being a jerk,” He snaps. “you had your fun!”

Of course, he didn’t listen and went further and further into the canal. 

The boat slowed down to just four miles per hour- Joe at least followed that rule. The merman was quicker though and surely it outswam the boat. David let out a sigh of relief, happy that his friend got away. 

“Where did it go?” Joe wondered. 

“I don’t care.” David said curtly. Zac’s house was coming closer and closer. “Just let me off.”

“All right,” Joe nods annoyed. “You wanna walk back to the cafe? Fine, get off then.” Joe steers the boat to Zac's jetty, silently David gets up to get off the speedboat. Carefully he steps up the jetty making sure not to touch anything wet. 

He stands and watches as brother puts the boat in reverse and turns to drive away. David was about to walk off when Joe's voice filled the air once again. “Hey. Hey, hey, it’s down there. It’s under the jetty!” He screams pointing at the water under the jetty. 

_ Shit _ .

What if it was Zac down there waiting for his opportunity to dry off and get back home?! Why can’t his brother just leave this and go!

“Just leave it alone, man.” He yells. “Turn our boat and get out of here!”

“Are you crazy? I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’re the one who’s crazy. Don’t be stupid your scaring it.” He tries again.

David hears footsteps coming from behind him. 

“What's up?” Zac asks. David can’t help but feel a little relieved to see him, but it didn’t mean that they were out of the hot water yet. 

Behind Zac came Lyla and Sirena, which means he couldn’t warn Zac about the possibility that Cam was being hunted by his brother. “My idiot brother’s chased something into the canal.” He points to where he thinks Cam is hiding.

Zac walks over to the edge. “What is it?” He asks.

He couldn’t answer him, not with the girls so close by. His and Zac’s eyes lock, and he tries to tell him as good as he thought he could without words. But to no avail, Zac just frowns at him confused.

“Hey, Sirena, Scope it out.” Joe orders from his boat. “Take a look!”

Annoyance bubbled up again, why did he ever tell Joe about her. He turns to Sirena. “Ignore him, alright?” She smiles at him, but she must be curious too as she walks with Lyla to the other side of the jetty to take a look for herself. 

“I think I saw a dolphin.” She squeaked. 

“It can’t be.” His brother pipes.

“I'm pretty sure it was.” She deflects.

“Me too,” Lyla joined in. “I think it’s a rare one.”

“No way! It’s way too fast!” Joe snaps. 

Zac taps his arm pulling his attention away from the argument between the girls and his brother. Motioning him to follow him back to Zac’s room. 

Zac closes his bedroom door. “What’s going on?” he asks with raised eyebrows. 

David wipes his hand over his face. “I think Cam followed me and Joe, but Joe’s new boat has this fish finding device and it picked him up.” 

Zac looks at him with his mouth agape. “What?!” 

“I tried to stop Joe but he wouldn’t listen.” David explains.

Zac closed his mouth and pressed his lips together, his brows furrowed. “We have to make him leave.” He says determinedly. “Are you sure it’s Cam though?”

Now it’s his turn to frown. “Why?”

“Did you see him in the water?” Zac asks.

“N-no but-”

Zac cuts him off. “Call Cam. I’ll go deal with your brother.” David didn’t get to protest as Zac was already out the door.

He shakes his head and grabs his phone from his pocket quickly he gets to his contacts and dials Cam. 

He really hopes Zac was right.

\---- 

As Zac walks back to the jetty he can hear Lyla screaming at Joe. “You’re just going to spook them!!” 

“Whatever, I’m going in.” Joe said dismissively tugging at his shirt to get it off. 

Zac walks up to Lyla- for a second his mind wonders where Sirena went. “Can’t you stop him?” She asks desperately. 

He could feel the wheels in his head turning in overdrive. How is he even going to make Joe leave without either of them getting into the water? There is no way he was able to dive in with both Lyla and Joe here. But if it was Cam under the jetty and Joe saw him then they would be in a bigger mess.

An idea pops into his head, as he looks at the boat where Joe is about to jump off of. He lets out a deep breath and concentrates- hoping that all those movies he watched would help in any way to control this new power. 

Careful to not let Lyla notice, he grips his hand like he would if he was controlling the boat's speed handle. There it was the chilly flow of power extending before him going all the way to the boat, gripping the controls as if he was the one doing it. 

It felt different than this morning on Mako, more controlled than the first time that he did this. Maybe because now he actually had his mind set on doing something other than just mindlessly using the power for fun.

The boat spun around going in backward circles on the canal, Zac couldn’t help but smile at the cries for help from Joe. 

\----

The phone only rang for 4 seconds before Cam answered.  _ “-Ello”  _

“Cam!” David sighed in relief. 

_ “That's my name.”  _ Cam said without a worry in the world.  _ “How was the boat trip with your big bro?”  _

“Terrible.” David rubs his temple with his free hand. “I’m gonna call you back.” 

_ “But you just called m-”  _ David hangs him up before it dragged on any longer. He looks out the window of Zac’s room. Lyla and Zac were standing there facing Joe, hopefully holding him up for long enough. 

He looks back to his phone. Now that he knows it's not one of his friends under that jetty he didn’t need to think twice about calling the water police.

\----

Just as Zac thought that he had this whole telekinesis thing under control, did it go downhill. Suddenly the boat was doing anything but what he wanted it to do. The chilly flow of power felt like it was pushed aside by something. As if someone sliced the strings from his puppet and attached their own. 

He cut off the flow of chilly magic, feeling it creep back into his very being. But the boat was still doing anything but what Joe wanted it to do. Still out of control. 

Footsteps could be heard coming from behind him. He looks over his shoulder to see David walking up. Whatever happened to his power was pushed aside. He raises his eyebrows asking silently if Cam was okay. 

A curt nod from David confirming that he was okay. Good, that was good. That meant that it was just a dolphin stuck under his jetty and not a mythical creature. 

From the distance, a squeaking noise could be heard. 

“Do you hear that?” David asks. “It sounded like dolphins.”

“They must have gotten away.” Zac suggests.

Lyla looked at the two boys and smiled, Zac couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe she wasn’t that bad. 

The sound of the water police siren broke their gaze.

\----

Carly wasn’t happy when he finally got back from his trip with his brother. David couldn’t blame her, he left her on her own on the second lunch rush. As an apology he promised to pay her double for today, which seemed to do the trick. 

He made his way towards the table where Lyla and Zac were sitting and talking and put down the drinks from the tray on the table. 

Lyla frowns at him. “We haven’t ordered these.”

He smiles at her reassuringly. “It’s on the house.”

“What’s the occasion?” Zac asks him.

“it’s not every day my big brother gets what he deserves.” David grins. “The police impounded his boat.”

“That's what you get for chasing dolphins.” Zac says. David's grin falters. Dolphins… there was just something not right about that. He may not like his brother very much but he had to agree, whatever they chased into that canal wasn’t a dolphin. The creature was way too fast for that. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the crapping of the chair next to him. Cam sat down next to him. “So what did I miss?” He asks. 

“Joe got arrested.” Zac answers.

Cam let out a huff and shakes his head in disbelief. “I leave you alone for an hour.” 

Zac interrupts him. “Where were you anyway?”

“Oh I was at home practicing my…” Cam hesitates glancing at Lyla. “... _ Cooking” _

“Right.” Zac said. 

Cam turns to him. “David you got to tell me everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm happy to get this chapter out before 2021, let's hope it gets better with a fresh start. I hope the vaccine works and that everything can get back to normal. But until then stay safe, don't do anything stupid during the year change and I hope to see you all next year. :)


End file.
